Google My Business: How Important is it?

Written by: Jason Bayless October 4, 2017

Google

For small, local businesses, it can be hard to keep track of what websites are important to maintain. Between Facebook, Twitter, and a blog, it can seem like there are just too many pages that need to be updated. But even though you feel like you just don’t have the time, each page has its own benefit for the company.

Google My Business is one of those sites that may be viewed as “extra” to many small businesses. Unfortunately for them, Google My Business can be one of the most important pages to maintain for a local company hoping to attract new customers.

If you’re a local business on the fence over whether or not to make Google My Business a priority, here are a few things you need to consider.

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a free way of listing your company on Google. Because the page is powered by Google, you are able to include your company listing in searches, maps, and more without needing to do any extra work to your website or SEO strategy.

On Google My Business, your viewers can easily see your business hours, location, contact information, reviews, and busy times. With all your information in one place, potential customers can easily decide if they would like to come visit your business or if they would like to do business with a competitor.

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Google developed Google My Business as a way to make it easier for searchers to get the information they need without ever leaving the Google search bar. As searchers become more and more accustomed to this feature, they will be less likely to go to your website to find the information they’re looking for.

Why is Google My Business Important?

The fact that Google My Business is owned by Google should be enough to recognize its importance for your SEO strategy. Because Google is always trying to find new ways to make navigating the internet easier for users, your business needs to do what you can to fit the expectations of Google and other search engines.

Because Google wants to keep users on their site, they will put their own pages first. In a local search, this means that Google My Business pages will be among the top results regardless of how strong a website’s SEO strategy is. These Google My Business pages will also feature all the necessary information a searcher needs to keep them from clicking away from the Google page.

If you do not have a Google My Business page, you don’t have a chance to be featured in the top list of results. If users are not going beyond the list of Google My Business pages shown, you also won’t have a chance of catching their business.

How to Make the Most of Your Google My Business Page

Simply setting up your Google My Business page can be enough to get you featured, but if you’re in a competitive area, you may need to go a step above and beyond. However, having a strong Google My Business page doesn’t need to be difficult.

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Your first step in setting up a Google My Business page that can bring in new business for your company is claiming the listing. Once you have claimed your business’s Google My Business page, you can upload all the requested information. This includes your business hours, business location, contact information, images, and more.

Then, you will need to ask for help from your happy clients and customers. Ask them to leave you a positive review on your Google My Business page. This can increase your chances of becoming the top result.

Google My Business pages aren’t complicated, but they are important. While you may feel like you just have too many pages to juggle, Google My Business should be one of the most important.

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